merry-go-round
Americannoun
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merry-go-rounds
plural
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Also called carousel. (in amusement parks, carnivals, etc.) a revolving, circular platform with wooden horses or other animals, benches, etc., on which people may sit or ride, usually to the accompaniment of mechanical or recorded music.
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a rapid whirl or a busy round, as of social life or business affairs.
noun
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another name for roundabout
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a whirl of activity or events
the merry-go-round of the fashion world
Usage
What is a merry-go-round? A merry-go-round is an amusement park ride that consists of a revolving, circular platform with wooden horses or other fixtures, as in Sofia and Camila begged their parents to ride the merry-go-round with them. A merry-go-round is also known as a carousel. People sit on the fixtures, while the platform goes around slowly and cheery (some might say “cheesy”) music plays. Merry-go-round can also be used figuratively to refer to a whirl, or a busy round, of activity, as in Sports fans are always delighted by the merry-go-round of the trading season. Example: I always enjoyed listening to carnival music when I rode the merry-go-round as a kid.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of merry-go-round
First recorded in 1720–30
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Prof Shaw thinks potential benefits include better long-term planning around rolling-stock and timetables, and the removal of "the compensation merry-go-round", where train companies and Network Rail argue about whose fault a delay was.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
The Griffith Park merry-go-round, which turned 100 this year, stands motionless, many of its 66 wooden horses weathered and caught mid-ascent.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
In 1961, for instance, a riot erupted at the merry-go-round when police officers alleged a 17-year-old Black rider failed to pay for his admission.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
The merry-go-round has reached such unsafe speeds that fewer than half the coaches who will kick off their seasons this week have completed at least one Premier League season in their current postings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
I was approaching the merry-go-round one day when I noticed that things were different.
From "Milkweed" by Jerry Spinelli
Angular momentum is familiar in everyday life through spinning objects like bicycle wheels or merry-go-rounds, but at the atomic scale it is deeply connected to magnetism.
From Science Daily ● May 24, 2026
The carousel is one of the oldest wooden merry-go-rounds in California, and one of just a handful designed by the famous Spillman Engineering Corp. and its predecessor that remain in operation in the state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2025
For years, Scottish football used to look at managerial merry-go-rounds in English football and decry it as a basket case environment, Now, it’s every bit as volatile in this country, if not worse.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2024
Human children indulge in spinner bowls at playgrounds and in merry-go-rounds, carousels and carnival rides that spin them through the air.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 28, 2023
There were toy automobiles and trucks, windmills and merry-go-rounds, airplanes, boats and a lot of others, mostly run on batteries.
From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
